(p)
PERU's SHOOTDOWN OF MISSIONARY AIRCRAFT INVOLVED US INTELLIGENCE
AIRCRAFT. The Peru story is still being sorted out, and at this point,
Peruvian and US accounts of the tragedy do not agree, while every day
brings new and revised details. In any event, it is apparent that one
and possibly two types of US Govt intelligence aircraft played a role
in providing the radar that detected the missionary aircraft, a Cessna
185 float plane, and guided the Peruvian AT-37B to the intercept. There
were 5 American missionaries aboard the ill fated light plane and two of
them, a 37 year old Baptist missionary and her 7 month old daughter,
were killed in the first burst of gunfire from the Peruvian jet --
probably from a .30 caliber minigun. The American radar equipped plane,
a twin-engine Cessna Citation II jet, is apparently owned by the USAF
and operated by a 3-man crew of CIA contract employees. Also aboard,
was a Peruvian AF officer who, it seems, was in charge in the air and
who was the one who ordered the fighter to move ahead with interception
and shootdown procedures. The Peruvian fighter may have hurried through
his Rules of Engagement (ROE) Standard Procedures (SOP's), US and
Peruvian accounts differ here -- the AT-37 pilot did (or did not) fly
alongside and use hand signals, try to make contact on the radio, fire a
warning burst of tracers. The CIA crew also deviated from SOP's.
Normally, the Citation intercepts and flies alongside the suspect
aircraft to get its registration number before a decision is ever made
to launch a fighter. The Peruvian AF officer then radios the number
back to Peruvian authorities on the ground. If the number checks out,
okay. If not, a fighter may be launched. In this case, the Citation's
CIA crew (or the Peruvian AF officer?) decided not to fly alongside in
this case -- they didn't want to alert the small plane's occupants and
cause them to flee across the border before a fighter arrived, as drug
smugglers often do. When the Peruvian AF officer ordered the fighter to
move to interdict, the CIA crew says they objected vigorously, arguing
that not enough had been done to try and identify the small float
plane. But, the CIA contract aircrew says, the Peruvian AF officer was
no longer paying attention to them -- he was busy on the radio with the
interdict and shootdown instructions. So the CIA crew radioed their
Station in Lima to try and get the interception stopped. According to
the Post, a high flying US Customs service reconnaissance P-3 may have
been or was overhead -- it's job was initial detection of low flying
aircraft suspected of being drug smugglers and it had probably detected
the missionary plane earlier. Then the standard procedure was to launch
a US air-radar tracker jet aloft to pinpoint the suspect aircraft's
location. These airplanes, Cessna Citation jets, are, apparently owned
by the USAF (accounts also differ here) but operated by US Customs
Service or CIA contract aircrews -- usually CIA. In the early 1990's
when Peru began its policy of forcing or shooting down drug smuggling
aircraft, the Clinton Administration decided not to cooperate in these
intercept operations because shooting down unarmed civilian aircraft was
of dubious legality under international law. However, Congress
intervened and in 1994 directed that US radar assistance be given --
also the implementing legislation theoretically absolved both US and
foreign crew members of legal responsibility in the matter. At the same
time, an intelligence sharing agreement with elaborate safeguards --
apparently not followed in this instance -- was set up with Peru. The
US was to stay out of the Peruvian military chain of command -- thus the
Peruvian officer aboard the CIA Citation jet was in command and the only
person in voice communication with the AT37B fighter jet. In this
instance, the CIA operated Citation jet was on the scene and in eye
contact with the Cessna float plane for nearly an hour. They also
witnessed the shootdown and its aftermath, while a US customs P-3
aircraft may also have been airborne and, if so, presumably collected
tapes of the radar tracks and the radio communications. Those tapes
would help officialdom to sort out what caused this terrible accident.
Meanwhile, President Bush has halted US assistance to these operations
for the time being.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54261-2001Apr23.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49854-2001Apr22.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53117-2001Apr23.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/23/world/23PLAN.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47032-2001Apr21.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/22/world/22PLAN.html
FBI INVESTIGATOR SUSPECTED FBI MOLE IN 1999. In early 1999, two years
before the arrest of Robert Hanssen, an FBI investigator reported to
Director Louis Freeh the results of his analysis that pointed to a
"mole" within the Bureau. However, other FBI officials discounted the
report and instead convinced Freeh that the CIA was the place to search
for moles.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/22/national/22SPY.html
DDCI McLAUGHLIN SAYS NORTH KOREA "PROBABLY" HAS NUKES. This in April 17
speech at Texas A&M. Actually, the CIA has been saying something like
this publicly for about 5 or 6 years -- but not quite this
definitively. The DDCI's exact words: "Indeed, the North probably has
one or two nuclear bombs — and it may also have biological weapons
alongside its chemical ones." [from Compton]
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010418/wl/korea_usa_dc_1.html
http://www.odci.gov/cia/public_affairs/speeches/ddci_speech_04172001.html
CHINESE SIGINT CAPABILITIES -- The focus of China's electronic
collection activities is on its immediate neighborhood. According to
Professor Desmond Ball of the Australian National University, writing
some ten years ago, "There are several dozen SIGINT ground stations
deployed throughout China concerned with monitoring signals from Russia,
Japan, Taiwan, Southeast Asia and India, as well as internal
communications .... The two largest SIGINT stations are, first, the main
Technical Department SIGINT net control station on the northwest
outskirts of Beijing; and, second, a large complex near Lake Kinghathu
in the extreme northeast corner of China."
Ground stations oriented toward Russia include those at Jilemutu and
Jixi in the northeast, and at Erlian and Hami near the Mongolian border.
Two sites in Xinjiang, at Qitai and Korla, are in a special category.
These have reportedly been operated by China jointly with the US Central
Intelligence Agency's Office of SIGINT Operations since the late 1980’s.
These sites were originally tasked to monitor Soviet missile tests and
space launches, but their current status is uncertain.
SIGINT operations covering India are controlled from a large station at
Chengdu, supplemented by the nearby facility at Dayi and "numerous"
smaller posts along the Indian border. A major complex at Kunming mainly
covers Indochina, and most notably Vietnam. Other significant facilities
are located near Shenyang, near Jinan and in Nanjing and Shanghai.
Additional stations are in the Fujian and Guangdong military districts
opposite Taiwan.
China has at least two major SIGINT facilities on Hainan: a large
complex mainly monitoring signals activity in and around the South China
Sea; and a ground station, together with decryption capabilities, for
intercepting signals transmitted through US and Russian Communication
satellites. Ships and aircraft under the South Sea
Fleet, headquartered at Zhanjiang immediately north of the island,
supplement these to link with a far-reaching electronic intelligence
(ELINT)-gathering system.
The Chinese network of ground stations is supplemented by "half a dozen
ships, truck-mounted systems, airborne systems and a limited satellite
collection capability," according to Professor Ball. Little is publicly
known of China's airborne systems. Ball identified the four-turboprop
EY-8, an indigenous development of the Russian
An-12 'Cub,' as China's main ELINT and reconnaissance aircraft a decade
ago. This role was subsequently assumed by at least four locally
modified Tu-154Ms, which some analysts compare with the Il-20 ELINT
aircraft deployed by Moscow in the 1980s. Naval SIGINT capabilities
appear more extensive. At least eight such specialized ships were
operational a decade ago, and their number has since grown to at least
10 intelligence gathering auxiliary vessels.
To reiterate, the focus of China's electronic collection activities has
been on its immediate neighbors. For example, US sources in Honolulu
noted three years ago that Chinese submarines had never sought to mirror
Soviet surveillance of US Pacific Command facilities in Hawaii. In the
near future, however, China's SIGINT operations against US assets could
well expand as the controversy about Taiwan brings US and Chinese
interests in conflict. (from AFIO WIN, Jonkers)
((Jane's Defence Weekly 24 March 1999; // 'Signals Intelligence in
China,' by Desmond Ball, Jane's Intelligence
Review 1995; // Jane’s Defence Weekly, April 11, 2001 //R. Karniol).
NEW SECURITY FOR RUSSIAN MISSILES; WANG WEI's PARACHUTE FAILED TO OPEN.
These two stories and more in their "Inside the Ring" column by Bill
Gertz & Rowan Scarborough.
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20010420-87105756.htm
KEITH HALL, DIRECTOR OF THE NRO WILL LEAVE OFFICE. D/NRO Keith Hall's
pro-forma transition resignation has apparently and unexpectedly been
accepted, although Hall has been asked to stay on until a replacement
has been confirmed. Rumor is that Albert Martin, Lockheed Martin VP for
Space, is front runner for the nomination. The NRO, of course, is the
once hush hush organization that designs, buys and flies US intelligence
satellites.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/politics/fedpage/columns/intheloop/A55634-2001Apr23.html
SPY BUGS FOUND AT BRITISH DEFENSE MINISTRY. More than 30 electronic
listening devices have been found at the British defense ministry
headquarters in London. The bugs were probably planted by visitors such
as overseas journalists working for foreign intelligence services -- the
Russians were the most likely culprits.
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2001/04/22/stinwenws02022.html
http://www.europeaninternet.com/russia/news.php3?id=384570§ion=default
STILL ANOTHER CHINESE-AMERICAN DETAINED IN CHINA. Wu Jianmin, an
American citizen, was detained on April 8 in the southern city of
Shenzhen. He is suspected to have had something to do with the
publication of "The Tiananmen Papers'' -- a book claiming to reveal
internal debates that led to the bloody 1989 crackdown on pro democracy
protests around Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Last week, BTW, the US Govt
issued a travel warning on China -- especially for Chinese-Americans who
may have visited Taiwan.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010420/ts/china_detention_dc_3.html
http://www.foreignaffairs.org/articles/tiananmen0102.html
http://travel.state.gov/china_announce.html
GLOBAL HAWK UAV FLIES 8600 MILES TO AUSTRALIA. The surveillance drone
flew at 65,000 feet and apparently operated on a preset flight plan
rather than under continuous control. It will be used in Australian
military exercises and evaluated for possible purchase.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55624-2001Apr23.html
FORMER NSA EMPLOYEE ASKS CONGRESS TO PROBE ARAFAT MURDERS. On Feb. 28,
1973, James Welsh, a Navy analyst assigned to NSA, says he saw a
communication intercepted from Arafat involving an imminent Black
September operation in Khartoum. A decision was made to send a rare
"FLASH" message -- the highest priority -- to the US Embassy in Khartoum
via the State Department, he says. But the message didn't reach the
embassy in time. Someone decided the warning was too vague. The next
day, eight members of Black September, part of Arafat's Fatah
organization, stormed the Saudi Embassy in Khartoum, took US Ambassador
Cleo Noel, diplomat Charge d'Affaires George Curtis Moore and others
hostage. A day later, on March 2, 1973, Noel, Moore and Belgian Guy Eid
were machine gunned to death -- on Arafat's direct orders, according to
this WorldNetDaily story. Welsh says he began asking questions right
away about the breakdown in communication that led to the tragedy.
"After some effort, I was told that the choice was mine: Shut up or lose
my clearance and get ready for Fleet Oiler duty within 48 hours," he
said. "I gave in." A year later, in 1974, Welsh left the Navy. In
recent letters to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he alleges
that a congressional investigation in 1986 was subverted with false and
misleading information -- and the tapes he claims to know exist were
never produced.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=22454
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=21365
BACK CHANNELS. Vernon Loeb's "Back Channels" column has an explanation
of the FISA and secret evidence in espionage trials.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39235-2001Apr19.html
SUPREME COURT REBUFFS FISA CHALLENGE. Last week the US Supreme Court
dismissed the most serious challenge to the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act (FISA) that has arisen since that
1978 statute was adopted, leaving the government's counterintelligence
surveillance authority completely exempt from adversarial review in a
court of law. The FISA established a secret court to provide
authorization for electronic surveillance and clandestine physical
search of U.S. persons who are suspected of being foreign agents. The
use of this law was challenged in a petition filed last year on behalf
of Theresa Squillacote and Kurt Stand, a married couple who were
convicted in 1998 of conspiring to commit espionage on behalf of East
Germany, the Soviet Union, Russia, and South Africa. In the course of
their investigation of Squillacote and Stand, the FBI requested and
received 20 separate FISA authorizations for surveillance that lasted
550 consecutive days. Based almost exclusively on evidence collected in
this counterintelligence mode, Squillacote was sentenced to nearly 22
years in prison, and Stand to more than 17 years. As a matter of law,
the accused spies were entitled during their trial to question the basis
for the government's surveillance and search of their home. It is part
of their constitutional right to due process and is acknowledged by the
language of the FISA itself. In practice, however, that right was all
but nullified because attorneys for Squillacote and Stand were never
permitted to see the underlying documentation that the government used
to justify the surveillance, not even on a classified basis.
(from Steven Aftergood, http://www.fas.org/sgp/index.html)
http://www.fas.org/irp/ops/ci/squill/index.html
POLYGRAPH BASHING. This "personal statement" about a very negative
polygraph experience by an unsuccessful CIA applicant is posted on the
"Antipoligraph.Org" website.
http://antipolygraph.org/statements/statement-009.shtml
http://antipolygraph.org
INDIA PLACES GYOSYNCHRONOUS SATELLITE INTO ORBIT.
http://www.timesofindia.com/today/19indi5.htm
THE MOTHER OF ALL CONSPIRACY THEORIES. Judging from my e-mail, there
are folks out there that are convinced that the whole EP-3 episode --
the collision, the death of the Chinese pilot, the return of the US crew
but not the damaged EP-3 -- is all an elaborate conspiracy in which
China and the US collaborated. Why? Apparently, as I understand this
"theory," Israel has been trying against US opposition to sell
electronic surveillance aircraft to China. So this collision episode,
according to the conspiracy theorists, was secretly engineered to "give"
China an American EP-3 -- thus spoiling the potential for an Israeli
sale. Go figure....
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++=
BOOKS & OTHER SOURCES
TV PROGRAM: "Are We Prepared for Chemical/Biological Attacks?"
Forty federal agencies and billions of dollars are committed to counter
things like sarin gas, anthrax, and small pox. Domestic and
international terrorism are at the center of this fascinating and
informative program.
Airs in Washington, DC on Sunday, April 22 at 10:30 am, on Channel 32.
Airs in NYC on Saturday, April 28 at 7:00 a.m. on Channel 13.
http://www.cdi.org/adm/1139/
MILITARY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ONLINE
http://www.mit-kmi.com/
JAMES BAMFORD'S NEW BOOK, "BODY OF SECRETS." Due out this week, the
book will say that Israel's 1967 attack on the USS Liberty which took
the lives of 34 American sailors was deliberate. The book also reveals,
apparently for the first time that a US Navy EC-121 intelligence
gathering aircraft was in the area and heard the Israeli pilots radio
chatter about the "American ship."
[As most know, this is a highly contentious issue. I am certainly no
expert, but most on scene evidence, it seems to me, indicates the
Israelis knew or must have known it was an American ship. At the same,
time it is hard to imagine a valid Israeli motive for intentionally
doing this. So the evidence is, I think, contradictory. In any event,
the whole thing has long been "too hot to touch," and no US govt
official elected or otherwise dares bring it up. --jdmac]
NOTE: NMIA's Potomac Chapter is hosting author James Bamford this
Thursday, April 26, 6:30 to 8:45pm, at the new offices of Anser, in
Shirlington, 2900 South Quincey Street, Arlington. Copies of "Body of
Secrets" will be available on its first day of sale. $10; parking, food,
refreshments For reservations, call (703) 921-1800, visit website
<http://www.intelweb.org/potomac>, or email <[log in to unmask]>.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/23/world/23LIBE.html
http://www.halcyon.com/jim/ussliberty/
http://www.ussliberty.org/jim/ussliberty/
REPORT OF THE COMMISSION TO ASSESS US NATIONAL SECURITY SPACE MANAGEMENT
AND ORGANIZATION
APPENDICES: STAFF BACKGROUND PAPERS. More than you ever wanted to know
about the history and organization of the NRO, NIMA, ASATs, commercial
imaging, and so on.
http://www.space.gov/commission/support-docs/index.html
COLD WAR HISTORY PROJECT. This program, run by Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC offers a goldmine of
info from newly released Soviet and other documents -- most of it
available online. They also sponsor seminars and presentations. Their
"Meet the Author" event on May 14, 3:30-5pm, is particularly pertinent
just now. Dr Nancy Bernkopf Tucker,
Georgetown University, will discuss her book, "China Confidential:
American Diplomacy and Sino-American Relations."
http://cwihp.si.edu/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
OLD "STUFF."
http://www.spiescafe.com/newswatch.htm
http://www.intelforum.org/stuff.html
John Macartney
http://www.spiescafe.com/newswatch.htm
[log in to unmask]
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